Old Goat Song is a peculiarly interesting musical in the current climate. It's about an older man - Bill Fast, who is aged 73 and soon to pop his clogs - falling in love with a 17-year-old waitress who he woos nightly with $20 tips and, on her 18th birthday, a convertible. In modern parlance, this might be called grooming, particularly so because Bill is a man who exercises power over people - from his clothes-loving wife to his abandoned sister - because they rely on his money.
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| Tiffs and butts |
The producers of this beautifully crafted and performed four-hander in a room above a pub in Kentish Town, describe composer David Reiser and writer Jules Tasca's work as 'an ode to love and life'. It is also an ode to death, because much of Bill's time is spent preparing for it with enviable equanimity. This in some part mitigates the creepy undertones in the piece, but it also underscores the arrogance of a powerful man, however limited the reach of that power, even at death's door.
Jimmy Savile inevitably comes to mind and what's interesting is watching a story that's clearly playful in its intent, through the prism of inappropriate intergenerational fraternisation. As Bill and his penny-pinching sister express lifelong sibling jealousies around the waitress and the ghosts of Bill's wife, Danielle, one is acutely aware of how easily harmless can become harmful.
In conclusion: Another small theatre triumph. London is rich with small spaces previewing exciting new writing and this piece, crafted for an intimate setting, resonates in that room. It's on for one week only, and tickets are a steal at £15.
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